demolition, travel and dubstep

been slacking on the blog because i'm not slacking on other things... like massive demolition and cleanout of our storefront building, organizing my art/music space and getting ready to travel to new york and oregon...


i also went to see some sweet dubstep (with joe nice of dubwar, j burns, cutups and keeb$). they played some really massive tracks... j burns played the roommate remix of djunya's "contact"... one of the only places i can find this INCREDIBLE BANGER is on this mix... it's the second track. (UPDATE: i'm pretty lukewarm on this mix overall, and the djunya track is on this, but the INCREDIBLE BANGER was this babylon system tune...) i also really liked the babylon system & noah d track "control", but can't find it anywhere... help please? (FURTHER UPDATE: it's not "control", but "examination of time"... and it does exist.) joe nice played a nice mala (of digital mystikz) tune called "livin' different" which for the moment you can hear on his myspace. i also made a quick and dirty (and kind of sloppy) 18-track 23-minute mix to try to hustle up some dubstep djing gigs... it's fun, but it was friday the 13th, and things got weird... enough excuses... the tracklist is below and in the comments file.

james gyre
mixing dirty

23:21

friday 13th
june 2008

wagawaga - nuff wobbles
overcast radio - honky paradise
cauto - bona vida
loefah - disko rekah
the others - africa vip
diplo - pop (m.i.a. vs dead prez)
maurice gleaton - lean wit it, rock wit it (instrumental)
benga - pleasure
flying lotus - melt!
benga - pleasure
krazy baldhead - revolution (para one remix)
dj vadim - ballistic affairs feat. skinny man & sena
skepta - blood, sweat & tears
2562 - morvern
fatboyslim - star 69 (dj godfather remix w/ acapella)
hossam ramzy - khusara, khusara
timbaland - big pimpin (instrumental)
lily allen - ldn (radioclit remix)
aphex twin - spoken word

UPDATE: (added the hossam ramzy and jay-z instrumental... i forgot... oops, not included in the mp3 id3 tags)

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something you missed, surprisingly

at least you missed it if you mostly read or watch corporate news. dennis kucinich read 35 articles of impeachment for george bush two nights ago. the evidence is damn good. the whole list is here. will it go anywhere? probably not. dennis claims he'll keep fighting for it.

and sure, people love to marginalize kucinich, because he has ethics, and is arguably the most radical elected official in the u.s. (and sure, he also saw a u.f.o. at shirley maclaine's house... but does this guy really look crazy?)


something should happen to bush besides going back to texas to rot on the porch... like rotting in jail... in morrocco... or saudi arabia... or mars...

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overcast radio and the passing of a titan

the great teo macero has died. he was unarguably one of the first remixers. from the new york times obituary...

"Helping to build Miles Davis albums like “Bitches Brew,” “In a Silent Way” and “Get Up With It,” Mr. Macero (pronounced TEE-oh mah-SEH-roh) used techniques partly inspired by composers like Edgard Varèse, who had been using tape-editing and electronic effects to help shape the music. Such techniques were then new to jazz and have largely remained separate from it since. But the electric-jazz albums he helped Davis create — especially “Bitches Brew,” which remains one of the best-selling albums by a jazz artist — have deeper echoes in almost 40 years of experimental pop, like work by Can, Brian Eno and Radiohead."

get up with it is my favorite miles davis album... an amazing compilation of work from 1971-1974 (the last released before his 6 year sobering-up/retirement)... spectacular work, that wouldn't be as awesome without teo's touch...

i found out about this passing from overcast radio's myspace page. overcast radio is chris jones, and his track below is a funky bass-filed banger... he sites miles as a major influence, and i can hear it in the wahs... direct link, so you can save as...

(mp3) overcast radio - "honky paradise"

i don't think you can buy his music yet, but i sent him a note, and i'll update when i know.

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the spanish civil war

when i first became interested in practical, as opposed to theoretical anarchy, i was schooled on how little i knew about anarchist history, in particular, the spanish civil war. i still don't know as much as i would like, but recently have been educated on the topic more.

i watched a lecture (put on by our local anarchist rabble-rousers, pittsburgh organizing group, and our local christian peace workers, the thomas merton center) with george sossenko, pictured below...


he was a bit daft, but with it enough to recount some of his experiences running away from home to take part in what some have argued was the most successful non-hierarchical uprising in the history of the earth. for a long while, the anarchists held control of barcelona and other lands, until they we're defeated by the facists on one side and the state socialists on the other.

i asked him whether or not modern anarchists should be actively pursuing violence with the state and he said yes. easier said than done, in my eyes, considering the power of the u.s. military. i liked ashanti allston's answer better... he was the next speaker in the series, and he said, yes, we should train in violent methods, but we shouldn't put all our eggs in one basket... self defense is a must, but glamourizing violent uprising has it's problems... he should know. he said it's most important to talk and build with people, face to face. hear hear!

anyway, if you want to talk face to face with me about anarchism and revolution (and can get to pittsburgh sometime or wait till i get near you, email me... j at gyreworks dot com)

bonus album of spanish civil war songs courtesy of zerogsound.

bonus folio of bourgeois personalities courtesy of i flips me lid.

UPDATE: from the comments, reader carlos points out subtleties:

"the uprising itself was the nacionales (fascists). the anarchist thing was basically pre-existing, as spain was mostly agrarian at that point and had been anti-monarchy + anti-clerical for decades. they had also organized into syndicates / militias, and were supportive of and supported by the socialist government at the time (it was all you could do to keep the nationalists out of government in th 1930s).

so to me, the most interesting thing is that restructuring barcelona into an 'anarchist' city (and abolishing money, etc) was actually a defensive act, reactionary as opposed to the 'revolutionary' (violent, military) stance taken by the nationalists!

finally, i think it wasn't exactly the state socialists who ruined everything (specifically the POUM, that group so often associated with Orwell thanks to Homage to Catalonia). it was actually the communists from moscow, who'd become major players in the war by 1939 and were fixated on consolidating power 'to win the war'. there were plenty of state socialists who sided with the moscow commies, but just as many were very skeptical of these cats and sympathized w/the anarchist critiques of them.

in any case, if you want to read any more on this, i really really really recommend anthony beevor's The Spanish Civil War. it's pretty darn good, although there's a lot of (overly) specific descriptions of battles and shit."

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more wild hair

my first post about wild hair remains one of the most popular posts on here, oddly (i think it's the image i link to, but who knows...) anyway, i saw these bizarre animal hairstyles and couldn't resist. they're really elaborate and awesome. above is the giraffe and below is the lion, but the others are cool, too.



UPDATE: credit, nagi noda

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your moment of zen (6 secs...)

because you asked, of course there's a remix!

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one of my favorite works of art (NSFW)

it's by packard jennings. it is sized so that it can be folded up and sent back in the standard postage paid envelopes sent with all kinds of mail. it's all using non-language-based pictures to tell the story of a corporate drone opening the letter, to find the art, starting a riot, taking over their office, all the way to neo-primative society hunting gophers and, well... the first two panels are below, but you can click on them to see the whole folding masterpiece... just check it out...


just comment if this link ever breaks... i've got a downloaded copy...

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i love techno a-z: daft punk - drop the lime

this is part of an ongoing series
abe duque - autechre
baby ford - burial
cajmere - cylob

daft punk - if you haven't enjoyed this classic album, you live under a boring rock. (unless you hate dance music, in which case you might as well stop reading this post and go listen to brahms or hannah montana or whatever it is you like.)

(mp3) daft punk - "oh yeah" from "homework"

david bowie - not really techno, but this track kinda is. he doesn't sing, and it has a fast beat and it's basically textural manipulations by eno, i assume.

(mp3) david bowie - "abdulmajid" from "heroes"

dead prez - revolutionary rappers of high quality. this, however, is a club jam... with a revolutionary message. one of my favorite d.p. tunes...

(mp3) dead prez - "warzone" (single with pete rock)

deadbeat - beautiful dub-electronic tune by one of the montreal geniuses (along with akufen, etc...). deep textures... he mostly makes more overtly techno music, but this track is my favorite of his.

(mp3) deadbeat - "organ in the attic sings the blues" from a ~scape compilation

dee-lite - play this song and people dance. it's a total classic.

(mp3) dee-lite - "groove is in the heart" (with q-tip)

detroit grand pubahs - play this song and people feel a little dirty (in a good way) and often dance. it's an underground classic.

(mp3) detroit grand pubahs - "sandwiches" from some 12"

dinky - laura and i once danced to the beautiful ms. dinky by ourselves in the beautiful watergate club in berlin. she was warming up for a m-nus showcase and it was awesome. a melodic minimal producer with a psychedelic bent. this tune is a totally overt drug reference, but the track stands anyway.

(mp3) dinky - "acid in my fridge" from some 12"

dj hell - saw him in the same club and he rocked it. a very unique hard techno producer with a lot of brashness and attitude, but a great mixer and label boss of international deejay gigolo records.

(mp3) dj hell - unknown track w/ chicks on speed - from some bootleg cd i bought in thailand

dj/rupture - often he does a global clash style with drumnbass and hip hop and dancehall tones, but this slow latin kicker definitely qualifies for this 4/4 review... i wonder who the vocalist is... maybe rupture (or one of his readers) will tell us? UPDATE: it's fosforo.

(mp3) dj/rupture - "musquito (club foot remix)" from "special gunpowder"

dj vadim - easily in my top 5 for hip hop producers, dj vadim (from russia) occasionaly drifts into other genre territory, as in this track (which i posted the vocal of here)

(mp3) dj vadim - "them say" (instrumental) from "the soundcatcher instrumentals"

drop the lime - mostly does breakcore and dubstep (and sings very poorly), but this tune is a more classic-style rave banger (with stupid samples, but i dig it anyway...). his track "rocker party" should not be missed... awesome.

(mp3) drop the lime - "i want 2 know" from some 12" and palmsout sounds blood oranges

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the aptera

the aptera. under $30,000, 300 miles per gallon, exceed safety specs, all electric version... want! (if i had $30,000...)

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scott, why didn't it happen sooner?

as usual, the toughest questions get asked on comedy shows... the only interview with scott mclellan worth watching... even keith olbermann went easy on him... pts 1 + 2 below...

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spicy bits

sweet DOUBLE hidden drawer (bottom of link...)
convenient CHART of plants that neutralize household toxins
sublime GRAFFITI of granada, spain (mentioned earlier)
cute PICTURES of animals raising other species
german ROBOT fast food service restaraunt

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